


Trial Run

by surexit



Series: Dan and Lewis [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, Original Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-07
Updated: 2012-03-07
Packaged: 2017-11-01 14:47:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/358042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surexit/pseuds/surexit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan and Lewis in a fairly cheap restaurant on a fairly ordinary evening.</p><p>With a ring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trial Run

**Author's Note:**

  * For [unfinishedidea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unfinishedidea/gifts).



It’s not romantic, when it happens. They’re out for a quick dinner and Lewis has been acting strangely all evening, odd and choppy in his conversation and defensive in a way that Dan knows covers nerves.

Dan can’t figure out what the problem is. He’s tried a few enquiries about work, but that’s apparently no more stressful than normal – normal is still pretty stressful for an ambulance paramedic, but that’s not anything new for Lewis, who subsists on builder’s tea and adrenaline. It doesn’t generally affect his mood in his off hours. Dan wondered briefly whether there was a family problem, but he talks to Lewis’ mother almost as much as Lewis does, so it seems unlikely. He’s at a loss and Lewis is clearly not in a helpful mood.

Dan’s about to snap, after the third overly-aggressive response to a conversational sally in ten minutes (Lewis doesn’t want to talk about Dan’s tech meeting tomorrow, about the closure of the Ripington flyover, or about going to the cinema after the meal) when Lewis says slightly helplessly, “I’m fucking this up.”

“What, dinner?” Dan says. “I’ve had better meals with you.”

“No. Sort of.” Lewis fidgets, fingers twisting in his napkin.

Dan reaches across and taps the back of his hand lightly, just a brush of fingertips. “Come on, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s _wrong_ ,” Lewis says sharply, but his shoulders are hunched in the way that Dan knows means that Lewis knows he’s being a dick. He takes a sip of his wine and waits. Lewis looks down at his meal, the very faintest edge of red in his sharp cheekbones. Finally he says, with a snort of laughter, “Creating memories to treasure, right?”

“Whatever,” Dan says, because last time they had a meal out, Dan was in a toweringly bad mood and spent the evening being so passive-aggressive that Lewis almost cried with frustration. “What’s up?”

“I’ve got something for you,” Lewis mutters, “and I don’t know if you want it.”

Dan puts his wine glass down. “Try me?” he says, and it comes out unsure.

“Yeah,” Lewis says, and rummages in the messenger bag hanging from the back of his chair. He pulls out a small black box, and Dan suddenly knows exactly what’s going on. His brain blanks. 

Lewis opens the box and shoves it over the table towards Dan.

There’s a ring inside.

Lewis is talking, fast and anxious. “I don’t know if you want to but it’s been seven years and I kind of want to. Not a big thing, not if you don’t want, we don’t even have to tell anyone, just us. I couldn’t get the ring I wanted, sorry, but this one’s quite nice. If you want it.”

“Lewis,” Dan says. He knows his eyes have gone wide.

Lewis shuts up.

“Lewis, oh my God.” Dan can’t quite figure out what to say. “I... yes?” He reaches for the ring box, fingers shaking as he brushes over its surface.

“Oh,” Lewis says, soft and a little stunned. “Oh.”

“Here, can you...” Dan holds his left hand out towards Lewis, and breathes deeply as Lewis slips the cool metal onto his ring finger. The ring is shiny and silver and Dan honestly doesn’t notice much else, too busy watching as Lewis’ thumb rubs over the metal. “Wow,” Dan says, sounding awed to his own ears. “Wow.”

“Seven years,” Lewis says. “Shit.”

“I... yeah.” Dan turns his hand over to clasp Lewis’. “We’re not telling Titan until we’ve done some planning,” he says abruptly as the thought occurs. “Or we’ll end up inviting a thousand people and having a string quartet and fireworks. And probably dresses.”

“You’re so whipped,” Lewis says, mouth starting to hitch up into an uncertain, uneven smile and fingers winding into Dan’s. “I won’t end up in a dress.”

“No, fine, Wayne will probably defend you.”

“You look hot in dresses, anyway.”

“Not in a _wedding dress_ , for fuck’s sake. Don’t get sidetracked.”

The smile on Lewis’ face is full now, dimples appearing in his cheeks. “Can we double-barrel our names?”

Dan’s about to say no, and explain how nauseating that would be, but he can’t when Lewis is looking so happy. “Fine, whatever. So long as it’s Vassa-Harrison. Mine goes first.”

“Don’t care,” Lewis says. “Just want a double-barrelled surname. So that I know I’ve really arrived in the middle classes.”

Dan’s startled into a laugh, and he lifts Lewis’ hand to his lips and kisses a knuckle. “I’ll get you a ring,” he says.

“Plain, please,” Lewis says.

“I was thinking diamond-encrusted.”

“Fuck you, no. Oh my God, we’re getting married.”

“We’re getting married,” Dan echoes. “Fuck, fuck, we’re getting married.”

“Fuck. Can we please pretend I did this smoothly? Don’t ever tell anyone I proposed in Pizza fucking Express, please. I just, I’ve been carrying that ring around for two weeks, I was starting to think I was never going to find the balls.”

“We’ll edit the story,” Dan promises. “I’m not in a hurry to tell anyone you couldn’t even be bothered to go down on one knee for me.”

“You’re just not special enough,” Lewis says solemnly.

Dan kisses his fingers again, to hide the smile which is starting to make his cheeks ache. His eye keeps being drawn to the silver gleaming on his hand. “I tell you what, let’s do it properly next week. You’re off on Sunday, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Right, so, we’ll go to Richmond Park with champagne and do it.”

“One knee and everything?”

“One knee and everything.”

Lewis leans across the table suddenly to brush his lips against Dan’s. It’s the very briefest kiss, just a soft nudge of mouths, but it leaves Dan gaping because Lewis never, ever goes that far in public. Lewis sinks back into his seat and peers at Dan from under his eyelashes. “I kind of love you,” he says, mumbling. “I’ll go down on one knee for sure.”

“I love you too,” Dan says, and squeezes Lewis’ hand. “It’ll be the most romantic proposal ever.”


End file.
